1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a method of assigning network access priority and, in particular, to a method that distribute system resources as the number of access routines increases or decreases.
2. Related Art
The storage server is a public space in a network environment. It is widely used in local area networks (LAN's) or the Internet, allowing several clients or user accounts to access data. Although this access mechanism is convenient, there are many situations where the storage server is used for private purposes. Generally speaking, the data stored in the storage server should be public related files. Due to difficulties in management, the storage server is often misused by individuals in sizeable companies or enterprises. For example, mp3 files, games, private pictures or even private digital audio/video (AV) files are often stored in the server. If an employee has to perform an access process in order to complete an assigned job, its access may be delayed because some unknown user in the access control list of the storage server is accessing a large digital AV file at the same time. On the other hand, storing non-business related files in the storage server also wastes the resources of the company.
To address this problem, a priority management method has been proposed in the prior art. The method defines in the database a list of certain people who are allowed to access specific data. Using the concept of weights, some users are assigned with higher priorities for the convenience of management. Not all users online can access any data. Thus, in order to access certain files, the user not only has to be in the file management list but also has to obtain a suitable priority through some kind of mechanism or verification. Although this method is ideal for small companies or teams, it does not disclose in detail the priority assigning mechanism for big companies that have many users accessing data continuously. It does not provide a solution when multiple users are using system resources simultaneously. Therefore, there may be problems such as that system resources cannot be flexibly distributed if a particular user is in an emergency to access data or that a user is disconnected because his or her priority is not high enough.